Being the Ricardos

Aaron Sorkin, who made “The West Wing”, “The Social Network” and “The Trial of the Chicago Seven”, has a new film “Being the Ricardos” which covers a week during the making of “I Love Lucy”. In this particular week three major things happen to Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. (Actually these things happened at different times, but they are condensed into one week.) Nicole Kidman plays Lucy and Javier Bardem is Desi. In this movie Lucy is not the sweet, funny Lucy Ricardo, but a driven, controlling, perfectionist who is somewhat grouchy. Through flashbacks we learn how they met and some of the troubles that they went through. The acting is flawless. Nicole Kidman not only looks like Ball, but she sounds like her and pulls off the scenes showing her playing Lucy on the T.V. show. Bardem makes Arnaz charming, smart and a brilliant businessman. This is a somewhat real slice of life, beautifully acted, that is a lense into the making of a classic sitcom. Unlike the show, this film is not light or comical. It is not only a look into the show, but into a troubled marriage, the Communist scare of the 1950’s and changes during the infancy of television. It is an interesting piece of history and will be on Netflix in the next few weeks.bI recommend seeing it.